In a Year
A DBZ Oneshot Fanfic

She looked so tired.

He supposed he couldn't blame her; the past year had been nothing short of rough for everyone involved. They had barely been married for five years when he suddenly died and their four-year-old son was whisked away by the demon who was once Earth's greatest threat. Becoming a widow at such a young age and constantly worrying about her son was likely stressful for the young woman. But even so, she just looked so drained, with dark bags hanging under her eyes and her skin paler than usual.

He had noticed these changes in his wife the instant she jumped out of the jet and raced towards their son after the battle with the saiyans, but this was the first time he had gave it much thought. They hadn't had such a peaceful moment alone together since he was admitted to the hospital almost a month beforehand. She had spent the first days constantly hovering over Gohan, and then once he left for Namek she was always so busy fretting and worrying about their boy. He, meanwhile, had taken to sneaking out and exercising the moment his body would let him, which led to her shifting her distress and anger towards him.

However, after his last attempt had left him with barely enough strength to scratch his nose, Goku decided it was time he took a short break. And seeing as the hospital didn't have much in the way of entertainment, he had taken to simply watching Chi-Chi as she sat by his bed, silently reading a book. As he watched her, his thoughts wandered, and for the first time since the whole mess with the saiyans had started he began to worry for her.

She looked ill, or recovering from an illness. The longer he watched her, the more small changes he picked up on. She sat up straighter than usual, her right leg bouncing up and down quickly and silently. The hand that did not currently hold her book rested in her lap, only to be brought up to turn the page. Whenever that happened, he noticed how weirdly she returned it to her lap, the hand pausing just below her breasts for a brief moment before falling the rest of the way. Each time it happened, a grimace briefly flashed across her face.

Something was bugging her. Something, Goku suspected, that had nothing to do with his currently hospitalized state or their only son being out in space. He scrunched up his eyebrows as he attempted to think of an explanation for what could be upsetting her so much – if he could figure it out, perhaps he'd be able to fix it, or at the very least ease her burden just a bit.

When nothing came to mind, he let out a soft sigh, which in turn caused Chi-Chi to give him a curious glance. Their eyes met for a moment, and in that short time Goku spotted the dull ache that rested just beyond her dark gaze. His heart twisted as he watched her return her attention to her book, slowly flipping the page with her free hand.

Again, as her hand descended back towards her lap it paused just below her breast; this time, however, Goku reached out his good hand and clasped hers gently before it could quickly slam down the rest of the way. He marveled, not for the first time, at how tiny and soft her hand was compared to his.

He did not have long to consider this, however, for almost instantly she snapped the book shut and let out something of an aggravated huff. "Goku!" she began, voice harsh but not carrying the same edge it had the year before. Hell, it seemed even weaker than it did when Gohan was still there.

She sounded more tired and defeated than angry, and it caused another shot of worry to coarse through him. So he cut her off before she could say another word. "Chi," he replied, his voice low and gentle as his thumb began to rub the back of her hand. His mind worked in overdrive trying to figure out the best way to get her to talk to him. While she did wear her heart on her sleeve, never one to hide her emotions, when it came to expressing something that truly bothered her deeply, something that involved only her own well-being, she often was very tight lipped. One trait that they seemed to share, unfortunately. "Chi," he tried again, eyes glued on her face, "what's wrong?"

If his other arm wasn't broken, he'd probably smack himself. Not the best way to word his question. And as he had predicted, she responded with a loud scoff and an eye roll, quickly trying to snatch her hand away from his. He tightened his grip. "What's wrong? What's wrong, he asks!" she raved, anger and frustration radiating from every inch of her being as her free hand was flung above her head in a brief moment of exasperation. "Where do I even begin! Gohan–"

"BESIDES all that!" he shouted, cutting off Chi-Chi's rant before it could begin. Almost instantly her entire form went slack, her energy instantly deflating and leaving behind the drained and tired look that had spurred the conversation to begin with.

"What?"

Her voice was so soft that he almost didn't make out the single bemuse word she'd uttered. With a deep, steady breath, he met her eyes again and clarified what he meant. "I know you're upset about everythin' that's happened with me and Gohan," he began gently, trying his best to keep his wife calm and listen to him, "it just seems like...something else is buggin' ya."

Silence stretched between the married couple as they stared at each other, one gazing with concern while the other was filled with something akin to disbelief. After a while Chi-Chi finally broke it with a small sigh, turning her head so that she faced the window next to his bed rather than him. "I almost forgot how well you can read me sometimes," she mumbled, although he caught every word. "Only a year had passed and I..." Her words caught in her throat as she pulled her hand away from him. This time he let her, watching with sad eyes as she covered her mouth and bit back a sob.

"Chi-Chi," Goku said, wishing desperately that he could do something to comfort her. He knew how hard his death had been on her, how much she had mourned for him despite knowing he'd return in a year's time. Even so, he hated seeing her so upset. Not that she often showed her grief in such a genuine way, preferring to hide it behind a loud and angry voice–

And then suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, a memory struck him. One that happened just before Gohan and the rest left for Namek. A dark look fell over his face as he recalled the fight that took place outside the hospital room door. "Does this have to do with what Bulma and Krillin had said to you before they left?"

Her light laugh did nothing to help his mood. "You heard that, huh?" Her voice was soft and dry, an odd combination that left him uncomfortable.

"How could I not? You and Bulma aren't exactly quiet when you're mad." He had honestly meant to talk to them about it, angered by the accusations thrown by his friends. Of course they didn't really know Chi-Chi as well as he did, they weren't around when it was just the two of them, and they certainly weren't able to feel her worry like he could. They saw her as heartless, uncaring for her husband ("You forced him into this marriage and yet you act like you don't even care!" were Bulma's last words that ended the argument). He had intended to set the record straight, but his friends had just left visiting him and the next day they were off in space. Chi-Chi, meanwhile, didn't return to his room until much later, proudly showing off Gohan's new haircut.

Goku watched his wife then, waiting for her answer. For a long moment she merely sat silently and simply continued to stare out the window. But then at long last she sighed and shook her head. "No, that isn't what's botherin' me," she admitted. "As much as their words hurt, I...understand where they were coming from." She smiled sadly as she finally turned her head and faced him again. "I haven't been the most loving wife since you've come back."

"Chi..." Before he could say more she simply waved him off, picking up the book she had abandoned. He let out a low sigh and broached the original topic again, unsatisfied with how the conversation had unfolded. "Ok, if it wasn't that, then what's got you so upset?" Her answer was a harsh glare that would have had him cowering in fear under normal circumstances. (He still flinched at the sight, however. Never had the phrase "if looks could kill" been more apt than when applied to his wife.) "Is there anything I could at least do to make things better?" he asked, opting for a different approach.

She continued to glare for nearly a minute before it dropped as she, once again, seemed to have lost all her energy. Even being angry seemed to take too much effort, and Goku couldn't stop the concern that welled up within him.

"No," her response sounded as tired as she looked, "you really can't. Not unless you can undo everything that happened this last year."

The implication of her words were, surprisingly, not lost on him. His brow furrowed as he recalled the strange thing she had kept doing with her hands. "Chi-Chi." He hadn't even been in his own home in a year. "Did something happened while I was de–" he bit his tongue to stop the word when he noticed her flinch. "While I was away?" he amended.

He had been gone for a year. She had been alone for a year. The bond that they shared that allowed them to partially feel the other's emotions had been severed for a year (he hadn't even realized how much he had missed that part of his subconscious until his halo had vanished and he was suddenly hit with his family's worry and fright). They hadn't even really embraced each other or done anything that could be considered intimate in a year. Not since the night before he left for Kame House.

A year was a long time. So many things could happen in a year.

As he gazed down at Chi-Chi's hands which were clenched tightly against her abdomen, book forgotten in her lap, he recalled how it took her a few months to get use to not having a round belly after Gohan was born.

A lot could be done in a year's time. A baby could be conceived and born in less than one.

"I–" she began, her words getting caught in her throat. Tears were pouring down her cheeks and she seemed to shrink in on herself, looking so small in contrast to her usual loud and confident self. He watched as her mouth silently opened and closed as she struggle to find the right words, but could not force anything out.

He slowly forced himself up in a sitting position, the task proving quite difficult with only one good arm and leg to work with. Once up, he struggled to shift himself closer to the edge of his bed, good arm reaching out to grab her arm. Despite the broken bones, he still retained a great deal of strength and with little effort gently pulled his wife towards him. Chi-Chi, thankfully, understood what he wanted and climbed over the bed railings so that she sat in his lap. Neither seemed to notice the loud clatter of the book crashing to the ground

Almost instantly her arms snaked around his torso while her face was buried in the crook of his neck. His good arm held her steady, her whole body shaking as she wept. He held her close, relishing the feeling of her against him, the softness of her skin, the way her hair ticked his nose.

If only the circumstances were different.

"Babe," he found himself speaking, not even realizing his brain had made his mouth move (a common occurrence that more often than not led to him getting in trouble), "do we...?" His voice trailed off, unsure if he should even ask.

He felt her shake her head. Neither spoke again as she continued to silently weep against his shoulder. He closed his eyes and pressed his face against the side of her head, just above her ear, taking in the scent of her hair as he comforted her as best he could.

"I didn't find out until about two months after you...went to that reunion."

Goku's head shot up, his black eyes wide with shock as he took in his wife's words. A day had passed since her last visit, neither of them speaking again until they gave their tired goodbyes as she left. In all honesty he had expected to never receive an outright answer from her when she hadn't given it then; so it caught him off guard when that was the first thing Chi-Chi said as she entered the room, a bag slung over her shoulder. No hello or greeting of any kind, jumping straight to the point as soon as the door swung open.

Before he could even effectively respond, she held up her hand, silencing him, and continued with her tale as she walked towards her spot by his bed. "The doctor didn't seem to understand why I wasn't more enthused at the prospect of bein' a mother." She sat down in her chair, bag placed on the floor next to her, hands neatly folded and resting on her lap. "It..." her voice faltered, "it wasn't an easy pregnancy."

He winced and nodded, not doubting her words for a second. The pregnancy with Gohan had been pretty hard on her body; he had a feeling his saiyan blood had something to do with it.

(Although finding out he was an alien explained many things about his life, he couldn't help the resentment he felt towards it for the pain his origins caused.)

With a barely audible gulp, he found the nerves to speak. "Where is...?" His eyes scanned the area. He had half expected Chi-Chi to wander in with a baby in her arms – he honestly spent a good chunk of the night before imagining what another child from them would look like. Would the child take more after him? Or would they look more like Chi-Chi? Maybe they'd end up looking like their grandfather, a giant who towered over everyone? Or perhaps they'd look more like his relatives – he didn't wander too far down that road though, having little guidance as to what his blood family looked like. All he knew was Raditz and he...he really didn't want to dwell on that man.

Unfortunately it appeared as though no such infant would be presented to him, as Chi-Chi had arrived with little more than a large bag filled with delicious smelling food. Her grief stricken face at his half-asked question made his stomach drop with dread. She quickly distracted herself by pulling out all the food and setting it up for him to eat, but he did not reach for it.

He suddenly didn't feel too hungry.

He did not stop her, though, nor did he press for more information. He instead simply watched her and waited for her to gather the strength to continue, which unsurprisingly did not take her too long.

As she set down the last box of food in front of him she let out a sigh. "I can't remember the last time you didn't instantly start eating when presented with food," she muttered as she sat back in her chair, trying her best to ignore his probing eyes. With a deep breath, she spoke up and continued, "I went into labor one night when I was alone in the house. I called my dad but I couldn't wait for him...something was, was wrong." His dread increased when she moved on and didn't elaborate. She wasn't usually one to skimp out on details. "I hopped on Nimbus and tried to fly to the nearest hospital. I...don't remember much of what happened next."

"Chi-Chi?"

He had reached out for her again, but she simply batted his hand away, a look of determination steeled on her face.

"I woke up in the hospital a few days later, and Dad filled in the blanks. There were...complications with the labor, and I passed out not too long after giving birth." There she was, fighting off tears again as she refused to look at him. "The doctor said I had lost a lot of blood and I was lucky to even be alive." She let out a dark, humorless laugh. "Lucky wouldn't be the word I'd use."

The feeling of nausea struck him as his heart twisted. "You...you almost died?" His voice was quiet, low, and barely audible to his own ears. He wasn't surprised when she didn't answer him.

Instead she continued on, glaring hard at the floor. "The baby didn't make it. I can't remember if the doctor said that she was stillborn or if it happened not long after she was born. I kind of... I shut down after he told me she was dead." She sighed and tiredly rubbed her eyes. "It wouldn't make much of a difference to know anyway. My baby is still dead."

It took him a while to register what she said, his mind still caught up on the fact that he had almost lost his wife while he was gone. She had almost died, and in a way where she wouldn't be able to be wished back by the dragon balls. And he wouldn't have known until it was much too late! Did his friends know about this? Did they help her at all? Or did they knowingly turn their backs – she almost DIED!

And then it clicked.

"She?"

At last Chi-Chi met his eyes, a small smile gracing her face. "Yeah, I decided not to wait to find out like we did with Gohan. We would've had a little girl." And as quickly as it appeared, the smile was gone and the tears had returned. She did not try to force back the tears this time, allowing them to fall. When he reached out for her she accepted his embrace, drawing close to him like the day before, although this time she stayed out of his bed.

"Chi," Goku began, not knowing what he could or should say. His hold on his wife was tight, keeping her as close as possible – he was still shaken up by the fact that he had almost lost her. And then there was the matter of the baby, the child he never even got to see... A knot formed in his throat that he couldn't seem to get rid of. "Did," he managed to choke out, voice cracking slightly. With a wince he swallowed down the knot as best he could before trying again. "Did anybody else know?"

Slowly she pushed away from him, wiping away her tears as she shook her head. "No, only my dad did." She frowned as she sat back in her chair. "After your friends told me what had happened to you and Gohan we didn't really...see much of each other. Not until the saiyans had arrived at least."

He sat up straighter, brow creasing with worry. "Chi-Chi, they would've helped. You didn't have to go through all that alone." His face fell as he realized something, something that did not sit well with him. "If I hadn't had pressed, you wouldn't have told me about this." It was a simple statement, one that she responded to with a swift nod of her head. He couldn't stop the glare that he sent her. "Why? You've gone through so much already, you don't have to shoulder that pain alone!"

She returned his glare with a fierce one of her own, sitting up higher to become more intimidating. Even he was surprised when he held his ground. "That's rich, coming from you! Mr. I'm-gonna-fight-the-bad-guys-by-myself!" she barked out a laugh and turned away, nose held high in the air. "You never seem to understand the concept of people helping you."

His glared did not falter, his eyes instead narrowing even more at her words. "That's not fair, Chi." She jumped, surprised by the harshness of his voice. "This isn't the same thing!"

Chi-Chi, however, was never one to back down. Her glare was on him yet again, and soon she was standing, towering over him. "Does it even matter, Goku? For a year I've had to deal with the loss of my husband, I've had to worry over my only son who was under the care of the man who killed you! All the while carrying a child who I never even got to hold or see alive!" Angry tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she did seem to notice, her fists clenched by her side. "I've had to deal with that for a year, by myself! These past few months I've felt the guilt and pain of losing the daughter I never even got to spend any time with! You didn't even know she existed, why should you feel it too?!"

He wasn't sure when he had dropped his glare, but by the time she had stopped her speech he knew it was replaced with a look of guilt. A long silence stretched between them, filled with only the sounds of Chi-Chi's heavy breathing as she tried to regain her breath from shouting. Her glare slowly fell away, replaced with a look that mirrored his own, as her shoulders slumped and her fists uncurled. She eventually fell back into her chair and stared at him.

Goku opened his mouth to speak. She quickly beat him to the punch, her tone soft. "You were dead for a year, training and worrying about a powerful enemy that you knew you couldn't beat. You came back only to find half your friends were dead. Now you're in the hospital and our son is in who knows how much trouble out in space." She shook her head and tore her gaze away from him, facing the floor once again. "As soon as you're healed you're gonna hop on the nearest spaceship and fly out after them. You'll probably end up fighting someone even stronger than the saiyans... You didn't need anything added on top of it. I've handled this myself for a while now, I would've been able to wait until both you and Gohan were safe back home."

"But I'm you're husband, Chi," his voice was just above a whisper, but she heard him nonetheless. He reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it firmly with his larger, more calloused one. "When we first got married you told me that we were supposed to keep each other happy and safe. I might be able to protect you from nearly any threat but how can I make you happy if I don't know about these things?" He frowned, "I know I'm going to be away again soon. I have a bad feeling about Namek and I know they'll need my help. But I will come back this time, with Gohan safe 'n' sound and all of our friends alive again." She looked up and he grinned as brightly as he could. He felt some pride when she gave him a small smile in return. "And I promise, the next time we have another kid, you won't have to go through it all alone. I'll be there every step of the way."

She let out a small chuckle and scooted forward in her sit, her hand clinging tightly to his. "You shouldn't make promises you don't know you can keep."

His grin widened, if it was even possible, and he leaned forward. "Well then I swear to you that this is one that I'll be sure to keep!" She couldn't hold back the giggle at the child-like determination hidden behind his voice. Her other hand was placed on the back of his, sandwiching it in her grasp. She gave it a light squeeze before closing the distance between them and placing a small kiss on his cheek.

As she began to pull away, Goku shot forward caught her lips with his. The kiss was quick and chaste, not nearly as passionate or romantic as some of the ones they'd shared in the past, but that was fine. When she pulled back, she rested her forehead on his and simply smiled at him. He returned it briefly before it fell into a frown. "I mean it Chi-Chi. I will be there. I promise."

It was rare for him to be so serious about something other than fighting. Her wide eyes blinked several times in shock before she simply held them closed and released a small sigh. When they opened again, he was back to his normal goofy self, a lopsided grin stretching across his face.

"I know," she whispered as she pulled back, releasing his hand from her grasp. "Now eat!" she loudly demanded, and his heart skipped a beat. That was the first time she sounded like herself since they had been reunited. "You gotta keep your strength up for your next big battle! No husband of mine is gonna fail due to an empty stomach!"

Goku guffawed at the thought and gave her a mock salute. "Yes ma'am!" His stomach seemed to finally register that he had not eaten in hours and there was a lot of his wife's fantastic food laid out on the bed in front of him. It gave a loud rumble that made him blush and Chi-Chi giggle. "Wow, I guess I forgot how hungry I was," he mumbled before happily digging in.

The days that followed passed quickly, the couple slipping back into the routine of Chi-Chi constantly fretting while Goku snuck off to train. Soon enough, the day they foresaw came to pass, and the earth-raised saiyan found himself off in space, rushing forward to save his son and the remainder of his friends.

He fell face first back into fighting. As the years went by, the foes became more powerful and dangerous. He struggled to keep up, pushing himself further and further, heedless of the brick wall that was set up before him until he crashed right on through it and found himself in Other World again.

It was hard to say who was more upset when they found out, too late, about the next child they had created. However, neither were especially surprised when they realized he had been unable to keep his promise.